An Almondsbury couple decided not to vote in one of tomorrow's local elections because of what they say is a lack of information and choice.

Wheelchair-bound Laurent Popham, 65, and his wife who acts as his carer, cannot easily reach a polling station on Thursday so applied for a postal vote. But the couple threw their voting forms for the parish council in the bin after they received them.

Mr Popham said they discarded their ballot papers for Almondsbury Parish Council because they were faced with a choice that they found unacceptable.

The voting form for Almondsbury ward listed four UKIP candidates and three other hopefuls without a stated party allegiance or any other description indicating what they stood for.

Gazette Series:

They were asked to put a cross next to up to four of the names. But neither wanted to vote for a member of UKIP or a candidate they knew nothing about.

“It says nothing about them whatsoever,” Mr Popham said of the three non-UKIP candidates.

“I’m loathe to vote for someone I have no inkling about.

“You either vote for UKIP or you vote for someone you don’t have a clue about, and I think there’s something wrong with that.”

Mr Popham raised his concerns with a democratic services officer at South Gloucestershire Council. But the officer said it was up to candidates to decide how much information they disclose about themselves on the ballot paper.

The Electoral Commission requires candidates to provide their full name but not their political party, allegiance or whether they are standing as an independent candidate.

The Popham’s later discovered that the three non-UKIP candidates were independents and received leaflets from them in the mail, but had already discarded their parish council ballot papers.

The pair happily cast their votes for a candidate to represent them on South Gloucestershire Council as they felt there was enough choice and sufficient information on the voting form.